One of these skaters is Courtney Shove, a Black, queer and plus-size roller skater who is known to her 70,000 online fans as Fat Girl Has Moxi. Through her platform, the 34-year-old skater has made it her mission to redefine traditional notions of what it means to look and feel like a roller skater.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cried watching myself cry, which is hilarious,\u201d said Shove, referencing a scene where she opened up about how the sport and her tight-knit sisterhood of skaters helped her overcome a crippling depression.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I watch it, I bawl my brains out because I love Shove so much. She\u2019s so strong,\u201d said Michelle Steilin<\/a>, Moxi Skates’ founder, who was also featured in the film.<\/p>\n Shove, Steilin and all of the skaters in the film were proud and excited to share their messages of self-love, body positivity and inclusivity to the world. But they would have to wait a few more weeks until its release on March 30.<\/p>\n When the morning of the release arrived, it was nearly 7 a.m. when Shove said she discovered a promotional clip of the film on Nike\u2019s Instagram page that was already netting thousands of views. But her elation turned to horror when she scrolled through the comments section.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was super fat-phobic, womanizing everything\u2014it was horrible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The barrage of vitriol ranged from puking emojis to body shaming to racist, anti-trans and homophobic slurs. Some threatened to boycott Nike for promoting the women.<\/p>\n \u201cThe worst [body shaming] are the ones that were like, \u2018we\u2019re just worried about your health,’\u201d Shove said. \u201cI\u2019m like, that\u2019s fake concern.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, none within her skate community had seen the video yet, which meant there were no positive messages to balance the negativity. It was overwhelming, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe skate community is very open and loving and accepting to everyone. And I forget that the \u2018real world,\u2019 as they call it, is not like that,\u201d she explained. \u201cSo, I think I was just so excited [for the video] that I didn\u2019t even prepare myself mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n Shove went to work that day at Moxi headquarters and tried, unsuccessfully, to slough off the negativity and self-doubt swirling in her mind. But then it occurred to her: Why wallow, when she could act?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to turn this pain into art,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m going to make a video. F**k them, I\u2019m still me, this pity party is over. I\u2019m going to go back to reclaiming my fat body.\u201d<\/p>\n Set to a music iteration of Maya Angelou\u2019s poem \u201cStill I Rise,\u201d Shove overlaid screenshots of the hateful comments to a video of her undressing, revealing her curvy self clad in a bright red bikini rolling up and down a rainbow-painted half-pipe in her backyard. It was powerful, beautiful, and Shove said, very cathartic.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tv\/CNEQN_rBsDS\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link<\/p>\n But, perhaps more importantly, it reinforced why Shove chooses to share her life and love for roller-skating online: to prove that anyone, of any shape or size, can skate and feel proud and confident in their skin, just as she\u2019s learned to do.<\/p>\n Although Shove considers the saying just a tad clich\u00e9, skates really did change her life.<\/p>\n Four years ago, while in the dregs of a relationship with a boyfriend who she said turned out to be very manipulative and abusive, both physically and emotionally, a friend encouraged Shove to join the Beach Cities Roller Derby team. Her boyfriend protested, but she insisted.<\/p>\n It was a pivotal moment for her, she said, because it was the first time in their relationship she \u201cdrew the line in the sand.\u201d From there, she began to reclaim her independence and self-confidence.<\/p>\nFreedom on eight wheels<\/b><\/h4>\n
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